Okay, my turn... this one was inspired by a phrase in the 5th paragraph of part 1 (go on, see if you can guess which one 
) and a long
history of reading Silver Age comics :rolleyes: .*****
Nigel came out of the penthouse again with a smug, self-satisfied smile on his face -- and a gun in his hand, which he pointed at Lois. Why, she had no idea, but didn't really care at that moment.
"Well done, Mr Newcomb," he said with his usual urbaneness, "You have accomplished something that not even my late employer could manage -- the death of Superman. A remarkable feat -- quite impossible for anyone else, I should think -- and it's so very appropriate that you have done it here... My
current employer will be very pleased, and I have no doubt that they will insist that we are both rewarded handsomely.
"Unfortunately for you," he added, moving the gun to point at Newcomb, "Intergang's usual 'payment' for outsiders is intended to ensure that they can't talk to anyone about what they've done, and so I'm afraid that I'm going to have to kill you."
The imminent threat of death seemed to have no effect on Newcomb at all; he met Nigel's gaze levelly -- cockily, even -- before drawling, "Not with that gun, you won't."
The gun didn't waver, though Nigel had to be wondering what the man could mean. He found out when his weapon began to heat up rapidly. With a startled yelp, he dropped the burning gun -- and in that split-second of distraction, Newcomb moved. Two quick strides brought him to Nigel, and a powerful punch sent the Englishman sprawling; he stayed down, too, knocked cold by that single devastating blow.
Newcomb quickly tied Nigel up in bonds that were as expertly tied as those restraining Lois, and then turned his attention to her, but not in the way that she was expecting -- but then, after his knocking out Nigel, she wasn't quite sure what to expect. The
last thing she would have thought of, though, was what happened: 'Newcomb' began to spin in place... and there stood Superman, alive and well.
Lois' eyes, filled with tears due to his supposed death, went wide... and then narrowed with what could only be anger. It didn't seem to faze the Man of Steel, though, as he came over to her, snapped the ropes that held her captive, and then helped her to her feet, gently massaging her somewhat numb wrists.
"Sorry about the deception, Lois," he said softly, figuring that a pre-emptive strike was the best way to deal with her fury, "but I needed to convince Nigel that he was the one holding all the aces -- at least until I knew for sure that he didn't have a back-up plan."
Lois wasn't sure whether to hit him, kiss him or make him suffer the Interview of a Thousand Pointed Questions, and was leaning towards all three, but there was one thing she
had to know before embarking on her campaign of revenge/seduction. "If you were..." She waved a hand at the "telescope" and other equipment. "...him... then who was you? I mean, who got shot by that thing?"
"No-one," he replied, smiling --
that smile, the one that always made her heart melt and her brain forget about anything else. "That was one of Mom and Dad's holograms."
Lois decided that she was going to take revenge on every member of the Kent family; it was merely a question of when and whether she did them all together or singly. But she could wait... "Come on, fly-boy, let's go home. I presume you've called the cops?"
"Yeah, they're on their way -- but I need to get rid of the Kryptonite first." So saying, he picked up the "telescope" and lifted off, hovering a few feet in the air for just long enough to say, "Back in a couple of minutes."
"No hurry," Lois replied, "but if you're going into space, could you come back via Switzerland and get me some chocolate? I think I deserve it after this."
"Can do," came the faint reply as he shot into the sky. Lois took a couple of unsteady steps to stretch her legs, then looked into the penthose to see where the most comfortable place to sit and await her husband was. Eventually, she decided that the chair that she'd been tied to was as good as any, so she wandered back over to it, pausing only to kick Nigel in the groin as hard as she could.
"Oops... clumsy me," she said as she made her way to the chair and sat down, leaning back to watch the sky for the return of her super man.
~ finis ~See -- the guy who tied her up was
a real Boy Scout! 
